RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Washington is "going to beat the fucking shit" out of Iran in response to Tehran's overnight attacks on US targets in the region.
Fighting between the United States and Iran briefly paused over the weekend when Trump abruptly called off a two-week US bombing campaign and Iran appeared to also halt its strikes on the region. The exchange of fire was the largest flare-up of the Iran war since an April ceasefire paused the conflict.
But the US and Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes on pro-Iran militias in eastern Iraq on Wednesday, just hours after the US military said its air defenses had averted a surprise Iranian attack on US troops in the region, in an apparent sign that conflict had reignited.
"We'll be hitting them hard. They're going to get a beating," Trump told Fox News in a phone interview, during which he also made the profane threat on Tehran.
Trump also said troops had just minutes to shoot down the Iranian strike targeting US forces in Jordan.
Commenting on the US-Saudi strikes against pro-Iranian militia groups in Iraq, Trump said they were coordinated with the Iraqi government. He called the pro-Iranian militia groups a "cancer on the world."
Despite the apparent resumption of conflict with Iran, Trump said he is going to allow US negotiators to continue holding talks with Iran, though the recent strikes stopped some diplomatic efforts, and Iran took a defiant tone in discussing the talks. Israel is not party to the negotiations and has not participated in the recent round of fighting.
Asked about his meeting this week with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , Trump reiterated his earlier characterization that it went very well, adding that the Israeli premier "understands now," without elaborating on what he meant.
A planned visit to Saudi Arabia by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has been indefinitely postponed following the exchange of fire, two Iraqi government officials said on condition of anonymity.
The meeting was called off after Saudi Arabia took part in the US strikes targeting Iraq's Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces paramilitary group. At least 20 members of the militia were killed in the strikes, it said.
US-Saudi strikes on the alliance also killed five Iranian advisers, two sources from the alliance told AFP.
AFP correspondents saw coffins wrapped in Iranian flags during a funeral organized by the militia in Baghdad for those killed. The sources said the Iranians died in a strike in the central Diyala province.
Iraq's Ministerial Council for National Security said on Wednesday that it "decided to adopt a comprehensive security plan to strengthen control across the country, confront any violation of Iraq's sovereignty, and prevent any source from using Iraqi territory to threaten neighboring states."
The most active pro-Iran armed groups are united under an alliance known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which acted in support of Tehran during the war earlier this year, claiming hundreds of attacks against US bases in Iraq and across the region.
That group said on Wednesday, "Our response to the American enemy is inevitable, and may target its tools in Saudi Arabia," in response to the strikes.
But they have not claimed any attacks since hostilities between the US and Iran resumed earlier this month.
Washington and Tehran are Iraq’s main allies, but their enmity has long turned the country into a proxy battleground and left successive governments struggling to maintain a delicate balance between the foes.
Amid growing US pressure, al-Zaidi, who came to power this year with Washington’s blessing, vowed to ensure pro-Iran armed groups would hand over their weapons, but he has faced pushback from some powerful factions. Earlier this month, Zaidi visited both the US and Iran.
Meanwhile, an Israeli military official denied a report by the Saudi al-Hadath outlet, claiming that IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir was forced to apologize to his American counterpart for a statement by Defense Minister Israel Katz.
Katz had told the right-wing Channel 14 that the Iranians "know that American aircraft are taking off from here, and refuelers are taking off from here, to strike."
Al-Hadath, citing an Israeli military source, claimed that US Central Command was outraged by the remarks because they had revealed "operational secrets."
The report claimed that Israel had raised its level of alert after the revelation.
But the IDF official denied the report about Zamir.
"The report regarding a conversation between the chief of staff and the CENTCOM commander is incorrect," the official said, adding that Zamir has not spoken with Adm. Brad Cooper since Katz's remarks on Tuesday.
Tensions between the US and Iran re-erupted earlier this month over Iran’s continued attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which carried about a fifth of the world’s oil shipments before the war.
A senior Iranian lawmaker said the key waterway will not return to its previous status, in which it was open for international shipping.
Speaking to the Iranian Students News Agency, deputy speaker of parliament Ali Nikzad stressed that the strait belongs to Iran.
"We consider the strait as an achievement of the recent imposed war and a divine gift to the great Iranian nation," said Nikzad, adding that Tehran will not back down from asserting its rights over Hormuz.
Iran's deputy foreign minister said Tuesday his country rejected a proposal by Oman, which lies on the other side of the strait, for jointly managing ship traffic through the waterway.
In an interview with Iran’s state-run television that aired Tuesday night, Kazem Gharibabadi said the Omani proposal included dividing the strait into two routes, each allowing the transit of 50 percent of shipping through the waterway.
Iran offered a counterproposal with a temporary plan for transit of vessels through its territorial waters, he said, adding t...
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